Improvement in invalid-beds



.. `"fiUruTeD STATES 'PATENTv rrr-cn.

RODNEY H. MATHEws, on PAINES'VILLE, onto.

IMPRVEMENTv IN INVALID-BEDS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 46,569, dated February.'28, 1865.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, 1l oDNEY H. Ma'rrrnws,ofPainesville, in the county of Lake and State of Ohio, have invented anew and lmproved Sick-Bed and Accouching Frame of Portable Constructionand Ido hereby declare that the following is afull and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings ofthe same,and makin g part of this specication, in whichi Figure 1 is a view inperspective of my said sick-bed and accouching-frame; Fig. 2, a plan-view of the same; Fig. 3, a sectional view showing the same set up andsupported'so as 'to form a chair; Fig. 4, a sleeved apron of water-prooffabric used in connection with the said bed. Figs. 5 and 6 are enlargedviews of one each of the pairs of adjustable foot and shoulder blocks,also used in connection with said frame, as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is acushion which iits into andy closes the-aperture inthe mattress of saidsick-bed. Fig. 8

represents the said frame folded up and;

strapped, showing' its portable character.

The letters of reference marked thereon indicate similar parts in allthe gures.

The object of this invention is toprovid'e medical practitioners,nurses, and others having care of the sick with a bed or couch which isso constructed that it can be easily and readily made available as asickbed, couch, or chair, combining the essential qualities of ease,comfort, and cleanliness to the patient and convenience on the part ofthe nurse or attendant, and which, in the case of parturient pa tients,is readily converted into an accouching bed'or frame, its constructiveparts being such as to materially aid the/patient at the time of labor.

The portable arrangement of this improved sick-bed is such tha-t thepractitioner is enabled to carry it with him in his attendance on hispatients, and to put the same into use by laying it on a common bedsteador any article that will sustain it.

This bed, when folded up and strapped, is very compact and takes butlittle room, which feature,in connection with its sanitary benefits, aswill be explained, renders it peculiarly adapted for the use of army andnavy hospitals, permanent, temporary, or traveling, being easily packedand handled for transportation.

The following is aalescription of its construction and operationzA, Fig.1, is a frame of board. It consists of four solid parts, a b o d, theseveral parts being joined by strips of leather, cloth, or othersuitable material. In theportion b of said frame is an aperture, B, Fig.2, which is closed by a disk or cover, C. 1n the portions a and d. aresecured racks or slotted plates e e and fj", and are located as seen inthe figure. D and D is a pair of handles, of triangular shape, securedat the sides of the part b of the said fame A. E E are handles ofleather secured to the end ed ges ofthe frame, as shown. The said frameis over- F, Fig. 1, which mattress may be of one entire piece, or it maybe jointed to conform with the joints of the said frame. In the'saidmattress is an aperture corresponding with that of B of the frame A,which aperture is filled, when it isrequired to be so, by the cushion G,Fig. 7. g g and 7L h are longitudinal slits constructed in the saidmattress, and correspond in line with the slotted plates c c and fj",Fig. v2. l These slits allow the foot and shoulder blocks H H and I I',Fig. 1, to slide freely' i while adjusting either set to therequirements ot' the patient. The said foot and shoulderv blocks consistof padded surfaces of wood, each having a shank, i, secured into aplate, the saidA plates being provided with hooks k and tongues l, foradjusting and securing i them in the slots of the said plates c e and fj The mattress immediatelyaround the aperture, as well as the sidesthereof, is kept from being soiled by the patient by the use of theapron J, Fig. 1, which is provided with a sleeve, K, as seen in the Fig.4. This sleeved apron is of Water-proof fabric, and is kept in its placeon the mattress by fastenings at the corners, as shown. The bed when notin use is folded up, and is kept together by the straps fastened on thesides ofthe frame.. The narrow portion o of the frame allows themattress to be doubled up, and it also serves as a bottom to `protectthe mattress from injury. This portable form is fully shown in Fig. 8.

The above-described bed or frame can be laid on bedsteads of, commonconstruction. If a slatted bedstead, a slat is removed to make space forthe aperture B, if on a corded one,

laid by a thin or sufficiently thick mattress,

aperture, the cushion and diskv are removed andthe sleeve of the apronadjusted therein. In cases of frequent or constant use of said aperture,the cushion and disk can be kept'out as lon gas necessity dem ands 5Aor, if the weather is warm, it will serve to ventilate the mattress bykeeping the said aperture open.

The main object of the sleeved apron is to allow the evacuations orother oifensive matter from the patient `to be removed by passing itthrough the aperture ofthe mattress .inte` the `vessel placed below itwhen the patient is in artcumbent or other posture, and thus preventingits soiling oradhering to any part' of the mattress.

It will be seen by reference to theFig. 3, that the above-describedsiekbed or frame can be converted into the form of a chair by shifting it,with the patient thereon, vtoward the edge or'side of the bedstead onwhichit lies, so as to allow the legs of the patient to hang down, thefeetirestin g on the foot-blocks H. H or on a board placed temporarilyacross them, the said frame in this form still resting on the bedstead.The handles D D' will afford every faeility in moving and turning` theframe with its burden without touching the patient. This is obviously aconvenient way of easing the patient without removal from the bed. vThisimproved sick-bed is especially adapted to the use and convenienceofthe hospitalsot' the army and navy, as independent of its portablefeature its sanitary property will render it of great benefit to sickand Wounded men, especially in those often-recurring` cases requiringthe vigilant and constant attention of the nurse to keep the patient andbed clean after evacuations or deposit of offensive matter.

Its construction also admits the patient to be carried from one localityto another, and of being shifted in position Without handling ortouching the patient.

lVhen the above-described frame is used for aecouching purposes thesleeved apron allows the placenta or after-birth and fluid contents tobeeasily removed and drained into i the proper vessel placed beneath theaperture ofthe mattress without soiling it or the bedclothes. The fotblocks before described, in conjunction withthe shoulder-blocks I l and,as occasion requires, with the handles D D', will enable the patienttomuse her physical strength at the proper moment of labor. These meanswill also dispense with the attendance of the extra help usually calledin on such occasions.

Having described and explained the `construction, opera-tion, andadaptation of my invention, whatl cla-im therein 'as new, and de sire tosecure by Letters Patent, is#- 1 The sleeved apron J, ofwater-prooffabric, constructed and us'ud as described, and for thepurpose set forth.

2. The frame A, jointed as described, and l consisting ot' four sections-or parts, a, b, c, and d, the said sections being rigid transversly,but yielding at the joints longitudinally, as and for the'purposespecified. 3. The foot-blocks H H' and shoulder blocks I 1, constructedas described, or any equivalent construetion, in combination with theslotted plates e e and f f', ortheir equivalents, for adjusting andsecuring them therein, as and for the purpose set forth. i

4. The use and employment of the triangular handles D Aand D', as hereinexplained, and for the purpose specilied. 'i

5. As a new and improved article of manufacture, the described portablesick-bedand aecouehing-frame, constructedand arranged as stated, and forthe purposesfset forth.

RODNEY LLMATHEWS. Witnesses:

J. Ij. SINGLE, E. HUNTlNGToN.

